Sex Ratio In China As Boys Outnumber Girls By 35 Million

China is in a crisis with over 32 million more boys born than girls. A new report is showing that China will continue to see the high differences in sex ratio worsen even more over the next twenty years.

"If you've got highly sexed young men, there is a concern that they will all get together and, with high levels of testosterone, there may be a real risk, that they will go out and commit crimes," said Hesketh, a lecturer at University College in London.

It is routine for Chinese families to opt for abortion when they find that they are expecting a girl. Chinese mothers have early access to ultrasound diagnostics and abortion. China's laws do not expressly prohibit or even define late-term termination. That infanticide while illegal is speculated to be in the hundreds of millions. Families who want a son will abandon their infant daughters on the side of the road to die. There have been reports that some families will even go to the black market to buy a child that at times has been stolen.

The average number of children in Chinese families has fallen from 5.9 to 1.7 during the past forty years.

In 2005 alone China had more than 1.1 million excess male births according to the authors of the report Zhejiang university professors Wei Xing Zhu and Li Lu and Therese Hesketh of University College London/

"This large reduction in the fertility rate, whether by choice or by coercion, has inevitably increased the male to female ratio because of the preference for sons and the availability of contraception and sex selective measures."

Because of the huge sex ratio millions of men will not be able to find a partner. The review assessed the populations in all 2,861 of China's counties.

"Overall sex ratios were high across all age groups and residency types, but they were highest in the 1-4 years age group, peaking at 126 … in rural areas. Six provinces had sex ratios of over 130 in the 1-4 age group. The sex ratio at birth was close to normal for first order births but rose steeply for second order births, especially in rural areas, where it reached 146 (143 to 149). Nine provinces had ratios of over 160 for second order births," the report said.

"Sex selective abortion accounts for almost all the excess males," it said.

There have been reports that the shortage of women has already made an impact on crime in China. Many Chinese men are buying foreign wives according to the World Health Organization. The going price for Burmese women is between $600 and $2,400.

Because the low chance of being able to find a partner future males in the Chinese society may lead to antisocial behavior and violence, threatening societal stability and security.

While females will be able to 'marry up' from their social standing males in lower socio-economic situations will be less likely to find a mate.

Because of this it there will likely be an increased rate of violence in play against females.

Females could become even more of a commodity where there value will be controlled by the males in their families.

South Korea had the same problem in 1992. That year they had a 229-to-100 gender imbalance. The nation quickly used a public-awareness campaign and enforced laws on general selection. The policy appears to have worked, in 2004 the gender balance had righted itself out to 110 male births to 100 female.